Tzatziki
Several years ago, we went to Greece and found a lovely little place on one of the islands for lunch. Everything looked so fresh and so delicious that when it came time to order, we went a bit crazy.
We asked for multiple appetizers, salads, and entrees, while the waiter furiously scribbled it all down. Finally, he threw his hands up in the air and cried, “Stop! No more. I won’t bring you all that food. You are ordering too much!”
Clearly, he had never seen our family eat before.
Despite our assurances to the contrary, he would only bring us so much food, and that was that. So now I will never know what their stuffed eggplant tasted like. Sigh.
I did, however, get to try the tzatziki, and boy, was it delicious! I, of course, came home and developed a recipe to duplicate it. This is the vegan version.
Note: No matter how hard I have looked, I have never found a vegan version of yogurt that is an exact match for greek yogurt. They all have a bit of a different taste and /or texture, and so I have pretty much doubled the seasonings from my original recipe to make the flavor more about the tzatziki as a whole and less about the yogurt.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup yogurt (I used Kite Hill unsweetened)
- 2 cups grated cucumber
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped mint
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 -3 cloves garlic, minced depending on how much you like garlic. I use 3!
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for the cucumber
***I have tried several types of vegan yogurt and my favorite is Kite Hill. A lot of the others have either a strong coconut flavor or are very watery.
Directions:
- Unless your brand of yogurt is super thick, you will need to drain it. Line a strainer with cheesecloth (or just plain doubled over paper towels will do in a pinch) and put it over a bowl. Fold the cloth over the top of the yogurt and set it over a bowl in the fridge for at least an hour to drain.
- Meanwhile, peel the cucumbers (I used 3 pretty good sized ones), cut them in half both vertically and horizontally (easier to manage if they are not too long), and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Discard the seeds. Grate the cucumbers on the large hole side of a grater and spread them out on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with a bit of salt to help get all the water out and let them sit for about half an hour.
- When the yogurt is drained, put it into a bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients, adjusting the salt.
- If you are not going to eat it right away, don’t mix in the garlic until just before serving. The tzatziki can be made a day ahead, but don’t add the garlic until you are ready to eat it.
Enjoy!